Posts Tagged ‘down syndrome’

Multi-Perspective Palm Reading demonstrates how fingerprint types can become a significant tool in finding diseases and other genetically determined characteristics in an individual. This article demonstrates how radial loop fingerprints can be used for recognizing Down syndrome (trisomy 21).

Even though radial loop fingerprints are less commonly see in people who have Down syndrome (radial loops are more commonly seen in the general population), the rather a-typical distribution of radial loops across the fingers of Down syndrome patients provides a very significant clue!

This is due to the fact that radial loops usually tend to manifest on the index finger and/or middle finger. In the gneral population almost 80% of radial loop fingerprints tend to be found on the index finger (2nd finger).

However, in Down syndrome radial loops tend to manifest on the ringer finger of pinky (about 75% of radial loops in Down syndrome are spotted on these fingers) – see the picture at the top of this article.

NOTICE: Despite these facts one should always be aware that a single radial loop in isolation from the rest of the hand is a meaningless marker. Even in perfectly healthy intelligent people one can sometimes find a radial loop on the ring finger or pinky. This implicates that a consideration of other perspectives of the hand (especially hand shape & finger length morphology) is always required in order to associate a radial loop fingerprint in an individual with Down syndrom!

– THE TOP 10 HAND SIGNS FOR RECOGNIZING DOWN SYNDROME –

This TOP 10 is composed from a list of 27 hand signs for Down syndrome, and the hand signs are ranked by Log Odds Ratio – which are calculated from the prevalence (%) among Down syndrome patients & controls.

It is interesting to notice here that 4 of the 10 hand signs relate to the palmar hypothenar (‘mount of Moon’ in the fields of palmistry), and additionally the majority of these hand signs relate to the ulnar side of the hand (hypothenar + the pinky and ring finger).

And it is fascinating to notice that these TOP 10 hand signs significant for Down syndrome is a mix of hand features that relate to both the palm (6 hand signs) and fingers (4 hand signs).

In this new report we’ll focuss on a few details in the fingerprint of the pinky finger.

Pinky fingers are usually featured with an ulnar loop:

The World Map of Fingerprints has shown that in all nations around the world the pinky fingerprint is dominated by the presence of an ‘ulnar loop’.

And in a study among 5 world populations (N=2.785) in 78% of the individuals the pinky finger is featured with an ‘ulnar loop’. The study also revealed that the effect size for fingerprints & sexe and fingerprints & ethnic difference is the largest in the pinky finger.

Other studies (Loesch, 1983) have revealed that when a pinky finger is featured with a whorl or arch, the ring finger is usually featured with the same fingerprint pattern type. In other words: the fingerprint type on the pinky finger typically highly depends on the fingerprints of the other fingers – especially the ring finger.

This implicates that the fingerprint type displayed by the little finger hardly provides any clues – because usually it’s an ‘ulnar loop’ and otherwise it correlates with the fingerprint on the ring finger.

Ridge count in pinky fingers:

However, beyond the fingerprint pattern type, another aspect of the fingerprint may reveal more specified meaningful information.

For example: in 1989 a study revealed that the ridge count in the left pinky finger can become highly meaningful when it is summarized with the ridge count of the five finger of the right hand minus the ridge count of the five fingers of the left hand. In a population of people with congenital heart defects in Down syndrome, the summation outcome was typically (in 10 out of 13 individuals) lower than the ridge count of the left pinky finger itself. While among the control population (people who have Down syndrome without congenital heart defects) the same result was relatively rare (in only 1 out of 38 individuals).

One can understand this rather remarkable example of palm reading in the perspective of the fact that usually in the fingers of the right hand the ridge count is typically higher than in the fingers of the left hand (this effect is often largest in the thumb).

Many people are fimiliar with the concept of a simian crease, but there is a likewise fascinating line that has a likewise significance: the Sydney line. In modern medical science both the simian crease & the Sydney line became known as a ‘minor physical anomaly’!

In a 1967 Belgian study Vrydagh-Laoureux pointed out that next to the well-known simian crease (or ‘simian line’ – which became well-known for it’s significance in Down syndrome), there is actually another hand line variant that is associated with related to Down’s syndrome. In the Belgian study this line was described as an ‘extended proximal palmar crease’.

NOTICE: In the traditional palmistry vocabulary this line is often described as: an ‘extended’ or very long head line.

Interestingly, only one year later Australian researchers (Purvis-Smith & Menser, 1968) found that this fascinating palmar line is also frequently found in the hands of patients with congenital rubella – and from that point this ‘fraternal twins line’ of the simian crease has been named: the Sydney line (or sometimes named: ‘Sydney crease’). This twin-analogy could become valuable because many people often find it difficult to discriminate a simian line from a Sydney line!

Example of the Sydney line presented by Purvis-Smith (1972).

Purvis-Smith defined the Sydney line as follows:

“A sydney line occurs where the proximal transverse crease extends beyond the midline axis of the fifth finger towards the ulnar border of the palm the ulnar border of the palm.” (Purvis-Smith, 1972)

MINOR PHYSICAL ANOMALIES:

At the end of 20 century a new trend became appearant within the medical scientific community. Researchers began study so-called ‘minor physical anomalies‘ – which concern typically harmless inborn physical markers (that are typically associated with a specific prenatal period) – that have been associated in various disorders.

And especially in the 21 century this approach became popular among researchers who are studying the etiology of e.g. autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, hypoxia & schizophrenia.

MULTI-PERSPECTIVE PALM READING:

Multi-Perspective Palm Reading demonstrates how the Sydney line & simian crease can be understood as a likewise hand line markers. Because (so far) a wide range of studies indicates that in far most diseases & syndromes where the simian crease has been recognized as a significant body marker… the Sydney line became recognized as a likewise significant body marker.

This pattern is seen e.g. in: diabetes mellitus, Down syndrome, fragile-X syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and schizophrenia!

Finally, discussion in the Modern Hand Reading Forum have shown that – despite the fact that a Sydney line and a simian line can never be observed in one hand – for many people it quite hard to discriminate a Sydney line from a simian crease. The picture below presents a few fundamental clues which could become helpful to understand the essential components of both lines.

NOTICE: A ‘common hand’ is featured with a life line [I], a head line [II], and a heart line [III]; and various hand line variations can be summarized with the following formulas [IIx = extended head line; II+III = simian crease]:

Obviously, there is a fundamental difference between the Sydney line and simian crease – therefore it appears more appropriate to describe them as ’fraternal twin lines’ instead of ‘identical twin lines’; because while they have a common nature… their manifestion shape is definitiely not identical.

As a research scientist, Dr. Lee is responsible for the international relationships research at eHarmony. In the following article she described how the hands can become involved in building relationships.

Whether they’re soft and manicured, strong and calloused, weathered and wrinkled—hands come in all shapes and sizes and can often say a lot about you. They can reveal the tattered fingernails of nervous nail biter, the orange fingers of a cheese puff lover, or the worn hands of a grandmother. And when you look even closer at the many lines and wrinkles, is it possible that your hands can reveal even more? Some people believe that clues to our basic selves can be found in the details of our hands. But do our hands really tell us anything of importance about who we really are? Is it possible that the numerous bumps and ridges unique to every hand hold some insight into our level of intelligence or into our love lives?

In an eternal quest for self-discovery, people have looked towards palm readers, among other mystics, to see if the lines in their hands really tell them something meaningful about themselves and their future. In current times, people turn to internet quizzes and online palm reading to make sense of the heart and life lines and the shape of their hands. Although these tests and quizzes can be fun, when put to the test of empirical science, most of these claims and predictions cannot be verified. Furthermore, these uncorroborated predictions about personality traits and future events leave palmistry in the category of a pseudoscience.

Despite the inaccuracy of palm readings, however, there are aspects of the hands that have been studied empirically, including finger length. When looking at the palm of your hand, fingers straight together, you will likely notice a difference between your second (index) and fourth (ring) fingers. On average women have longer index fingers, compared to ring fingers while men have longer ring fingers compared to index fingers. This association between the two fingers, called the 2D:4D ratio, is related to levels of androgen exposure (a sex hormone higher in men) in the womb. That means that the amount of male hormones a fetus is exposed to determines this very specific detail of finger length in the hands. The precise mechanism by which androgen works is not entirely clear, but in general most theorists believe that increasing androgen exposure will masculinize a fetus. There is also some evidence suggesting that either too much or too little androgen can be feminizing to the fetus.

Because androgen exposure is related to sexual development and masculinization, researchers have begun to wonder if the 2D:4D ratio, as a marker of hormone exposure, may also predict other characteristics. Hormone exposure has been linked to things like general physical health, cognitive abilities, personality, job preferences, attractiveness, and sexual orientation. While the 2D:4D ratio may relate to these developmental characteristics, thus far the evidence supporting such a link is at best described as mixed. For example, there has been much attention dedicated to whether the 2D:4D ratio relates to sexual orientation. While there have been several studies in this area, some have shown no differences between heterosexual and homosexual men in their 2D:4D ratios (e.g., Williams et al., 2000), and others, like Lippa, have shown heterosexual men having lower 2D:4D ratios compared to homosexual men. Similarly with other characteristics like personality and attraction, the research findings have been fairly inconsistent.

Another aspect of the hands that have been conclusively studied are the ridges, the ones that cover the palms and fingers, the ones that make up our unique fingerprints. The study of these ridges is called dermatoglyphics. Similar to the finger length, these ridges are known to be established earlier in the embryonic development, while the fetus is still in the womb. Researchers have shown dermatoglyphic differences between non-deficient people and those with cognitive or genetic abnormalities, like schizophrenia, Down’s syndrome, and intellectual disability. For example, individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia show fewer ridges between two specific points under the second and third fingers [a-b ridge count] compared to non-schizophrenic controls (Bramon et al., 2005). These findings support the idea that changes in the prenatal environment can display its effects in multiple ways, including changes in cognitive development and ridges of the hands. However, the findings do not assume that all people with fewer ridges have cognitive deficiencies.

To summarize, we do know that specific details in our hands are affected by early hormonal exposure and other environmental influences in the womb. And we know that this early exposure also affects other aspects of our development. While it is intriguing to speculate further that details in our hands can predict aspects of our personality or behavior, these conjectures have not been empirically supported. It’s also likely that there are more direct measures of personality, intelligence, and behavioral traits rather than the hands. But even though you can’t currently rely on your hands to unlock all of your mysteries, one thing you can count on is more studies and discussion about them to come.

Many studies have revealed that syndromes & diseases become manifest in hand functions & many aspects in the morphology of the hands. Interestingly, a closer look a the studies performed so far indicates that for the hand in schizophrenia the significance of the fingertips is more important than in other disorders!

A person diagnosed with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations (most reported are hearing voices), delusions (often bizarre or persecutory in nature), and disorganized thinking and speech. But there are no symptoms which are seen in all schizophrenic patients.

In order to understand the connection between hands and schizophrenia thorougly, it is important to be aware of the essential difference between the so-called ‘positive symptoms‘ and ‘negative symptoms‘. Because some of the fingertip characteristics in schizophrenia are associated with only category of the symptoms! (More details will be revealed later)

NOTICE: The ‘positive symptoms’ in schizoprenia are those symptoms that most individuals do not normally experience but are present in people with schizophrenia (such as: hallucinations & disordered speech). And the ‘negative symptoms‘ are deficits of normal emotional responses or of other thought processes, and respond less well to medication (such as: blunted affect & poverty of speech).

FIVE FINGERTIP DIMENSIONS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA!

A closer study of the reports published so far, unveals that in schizophrenia at least 5 dimensions of the fingertips provide significant clues, including:

Interestingly, there appears to be a connection as well regarding how schizophrenia is linked with the brain! Because after Penfield described in his cortical homunculus (see the picture on the right) in the 1940’s how the primary somatosensory cortex is linked with e.g. the fingertips, brain studies have later revealed that schizophrenia is often featured with abnormalities in the same region of the brain (+ other near located parts of the brain, including: the thalamus & frontal lobe).

FINGERTIP DIMENSIONS IN OTHER DISORDERS?:

The following summary shows that only three out of the five fingertip dimensions that provide significant clues for schizophrenia, also display significant clues in 6 other diseases & syndromes that are well known for displaying significant hand markers. Only rheumatoid arthritis provides clues in these three fingertip dimensions!

Why do physicians check the hand lines of newborn babies? Most newborns have two major creases on the palm, neither of which completely extend from one side of the palm to the other. However, a common variant, found in approximately 4% of western newborns, a transverse palmar crease is frequently inherited as a familial trait. Although single palmar creases are also associated with the hand in Down syndrome and other genetic disorders, the absence of other abnormalities on physical exam should reassure the examiner that no further evaluation is necessary.

The pattern of palmar creases varies substantially within the general population. The formation of palmar creases, which occurs between the second and fifth months of prenatal development, depends e.g. on fetal movement. Once the palmar creases are formed, they remain unchanged throughout life.

More subtle normal variations of palmar creases can occur for a variety of reasons, including family background, age, and race. Many physicians are aware of the association between single transverse or bridged palmar creases, previously known as simian creases and Sydney creases, respectively, and the occurrence of Down syndrome. Although approximately 45% of patients who have Down syndrome have single transverse palmar creases, this finding occurs unilaterally (one hand) in 4% and bilaterally (both hands) in 1% of the general Caucasian population.

Despite the high frequency of single transverse palmar creases in certain populations, aberrations in the flexion creases of the hands have the potential to signify abnormal fetal development. The association of abnormal flexion creases and various congenital disorders has been reported frequently in the literature. Studies have shown an increased incidence of single transverse palmar crease in children who have chromosome abnormalities and in low-birthweight infants. Therefore, it is reasonable to search for other congenital anomalies when evaluating an infant who has a single transverse palmar crease after taking into account the patient’s race and familial background.

When the crease occurs in isolation, however, no further evaluation is indicated.

In 2010 researchers from Korea reported results which suggest that union of hand lines (palm lines) appears to correlate with hand grip strength. And interestingly, a few months later a report from France presented results which suggest that hand strenght can be predicted from hand circumference alone. So, combining both reports indicates that a talent for hand strenght could very well be found in people who have a large hand circumference + fused hand lines, such as seen in simian line! An interesting hypothesis, which is suitable to be tested for it’s accuracy in the fields of modern palm reading.

Additionally, it might be interesting to notice here that the hand lines of apes (primates) are characterized by the presence of multiple ‘fused’ transverse crease. And Gorillas who are known as the strongest species among the primates have the widest (shortest) hand shape of all apes & primates.